The owners of a top national and international showjumping pony who has sustained a career-ending injury aged 17 said their one aim is for him to enjoy the happy retirement he deserves.
Vaughann de Vuzit, who has represented Britain on pony European championship and Nations Cup teams, won at the national championships and London International and been placed at the Horse of the Year Show, will spend the rest of his days with his current owners, the Purdham family.
Sarah Purdham told H&H the family bought Vaughann last September and her daughter Estelle had only been competing with him for about six months but the pair had forged a strong partnership.
“She’s flattened,” Sarah said. “All her dreams have gone. But if she can maybe sit on him again one day, just to give him a cuddle, it’ll be like we’ve won the lottery.
“We haven’t had him long, but he’s still part of the family, and we’re going to look after him for the rest of his life. After what he’s done for the sport, and we love him dearly. She maybe hasn’t got on the British team, she’s not going to HOYS. But when you buy a horse, you make that commitment to look after them for the rest of their life.”
Vaughann originally competed internationally with French rider Anna Szarzewski, winning team gold at the 2021 Europeans. He then went to Madison Seedhouse, with whom he won team European bronze two years later. He contested Nations Cup competitions with Madison and Maisie Allsop, winning the final with Maisie in 2024.
Estelle and he had not yet had the opportunity to go for team selection but had already had national success, winning at 1.20m level and being placed at Pony of the Year Show.
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But a freak stumble led to the injury.
“We do everything right but these things can happen,” Sarah said
“He was one of the best ponies in Europe; he’s made the dreams of four little girls come true. He made Estelle believe, and she’d qualified for everything. If he hadn’t been injured, I’m sure they would have been on the team one day because he was such a special, special pony.
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“He’s so affectionate and easy, an absolute gem with the heart of a lion who would do anything for Estelle, and the same for his other jockeys.”
Sarah said that it will be a long journey back to field soundness but as long as she and the vets are sure Vaughann is comfortable, they will do all they can to make this happen.
“We’ll do the best we can for him so he can spend the rest of his life in a field with our other ponies,” she said. “Our name is in the passport of every pony we’ve owned so when they retire they can come back and have a lovely life with us.
“I’m just going to look after Vaughann and my little girl and hopefully our fortunes might change. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to buy her another pony, but she loves him dearly, she’s doing everything she can for him – and he’s still smiling at us.
“We’ve got to go through life doing the right thing, and that’s what we’re going to do, try our best to get him a happy life in the field. That’s what he deserves.”
Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.
